Lord Campbell’s Act. 1. The 1846 English statute that created a wrongful-death claim for the relatives of a decedent when the decedent would have had a claim if he or she had been merely injured and not killed. • Technically known as the Fatal Accidents Act of 1846, this statute changed the earlier rule, under […]
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jus soli (j[schwa]s soh-lI), n. [Latin “right of the soil”] The rule that a child’s citizenship is determined by place of birth. • This is the U.S. rule, as affirmed by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Cf. JUS SANGUINIS.
An act that is a violation of the law; an act authoritatively prohibited by a rule of law.
An opinion that the court has specifically designated as not for publication. • Court rules usu. prohibit citing an unpublished opinion as authority. Such an opinion is considered binding only on the parties to the particular case in which it is issued. Cf. slip opinion. [Cases: Courts 107. C.J.S. Courts §§ 165, 175; Criminal Law
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necessitate juris (n[schwa]-ses-i-tay-tee joor-is). [Latin] Hist. By necessity of law. • That phrase appeared in reference to acts necessarily arising from the effect of a legal rule.
officer of the court. A person who is charged with upholding the law and administering the judicial system. • Typically, officer of the court refers to a judge, clerk, bailiff, sheriff, or the like, but the term also applies to a lawyer, who is obliged to obey court rules and who owes a duty of
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contra (kon-tr[schwa]), prep. Against or contrary to. • As a citation signal, contra denotes that the cited authority supports a contrary view. In old law reports, contra often identifies the defendant’s attorney (pro que-rente refers to the plaintiff’s). “Observe in the note citing cases in support of a proposition mentioned in the text whether any
lex majoris partis (leks m[schwa]-jor-is pahr-tis). [Latin “law of the major party”] Majority rule. See MAJORITY RULE. “The voice of the majority decides. For the lex majoris partis is the law of all councils, elections, &c. where not otherwise expressly provided. But if the house be equally divided, ‘semper presumatur pro negante:’ that is, the
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nonsuit, n. 1. A plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal of a case or of a defendant, without a decision on the merits. • Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a voluntary dismissal is equivalent to a nonsuit. Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a). — Also termed voluntary discontinuance. [Cases: Federal Civil Procedure 1691; Pretrial Procedure 501. C.J.S.